`Fargo` is a product of a planned breeding program which had the objective of creating a new cultivar of birch tree having improved horticultural characteristics, such as unique growth habit, enhanced hardiness, greener leaves, better adaptation to alkaline soil, and improved resistance/tolerance to insects. `Fargo` was originated from an open-pollinated cross in a birch selection/breeding program at North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND, U.S.A. in 1986. The female parent was Betula platyphylla grown in North Dakota State University's Arboretum near Absaraka, ND. The arboretum was established by Dale E. Herman. The seeds were collected by Arthur A. Boe from a Betula platyphylla tree and sown in the Fall of 1986. The male parent of `Fargo`is unknown. `Fargo` was first noticed with upright growth habit from the progeny of the stated open-pollinated cross by Dale E. Herman in the Summer of 1989 in a field research plot in the West Campus of North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND. `Fargo` was continuously observed by Arthur A. Boe until December 1992, and then by Zong-Ming Cheng until the present. The first act of asexual reproduction of `Fargo` was accomplished by grafting to B. platyphylla rootsocks, then by micropropagation or tissue culture propagation by the inventors from the initial selection beginning in the Summer of 1992 in a controlled environment in Loftsgard Hall, Room 204, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND. Horticultural examination of selected units has demonstrated that the combination of characteristics as herein disclosed for `Fargo` are firmly fixed and are retained through successive generations of asexual reproduction. `Fargo` has been observed in Fargo, ND; Mandan, ND; St. Paul, MN; and Saskatchewan, Canada since 1993 and characteristics have been stably maintained. `Fargo` has not been evaluated under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary with variations in environment such as temperature, soil pH, rainfall, light intensity and day length, without a change in the genotype of the plant. The following observations, measurements and comparisons describe the plants grown in West Campus, North Dakota State University under natural field conditions which approximate those generally used in commercial practice.